Referendum on dismissal of Chisinau mayor to be held on 19 November

Chisinau, 19 September /MOLDPRES/ – The referendum on dismissal of the Chisinau mayor, Dorin Chirtoaca, will be held on 19 November. The members of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) approved a decision on it today.

The chairman of the CEC, Alina Russu, said the electoral period was scheduled to commence 45 days prior the 19th of November. She specified that presently the CEC has not planned any financial sources for organizing the referendum.

The CEC’s member, Andrei Volentir, mentioned to the agency that the commission would shortly approve the cost estimate for its organization and submit the document for examination and approval to the Finance Ministry. He added that at the commission’s following meetings the text to be included in the ballot paper would be approved, and the proposal submitted by the Chisinau Municipal Council (CMC) to be taken essentially.

Recently, the CMC adopted a decision asking the authorities to organize a referendum on the dismissal of mayor Dorin Chirtoaca. The referendum would put the question: "Do you support the dismissal of the mayor general, Dorin Chirtoaca?"

Today, the Liberal Party MPs filed a petition to the Constitutional Court asking for two articles from the Local Public Administration Act to be declared unconstitutional, which refer to the suspension of the mayors, as well as an article in the Electoral Code, which refers to the reasons for which a referendum on the dismissal of the mayor of Chisinau may be held.

According to CEC data, for the referendum to Chisinau mayor’s dismissal to be validated, there should attend not less than one third of the 647,203 voters enrolled in the lists.

(Reporter A. Zara, editor A. Raileanu)